TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 35

appreciated that teachers adopting the 'Activity Approach' will need adequate training and proposals for this are included in Chapter 5.

4.24

It is suggested that the English term 'Activity Approach' should be discontinued as, mainly due to the interpretation of the term overseas, it gives a wrong impression of the style of teaching envisaged; the term 'learning by doing' might be more appropriate and will be adopted in subsequent para- graphs. The Chinese term (does not need to be changed.

4.25

This style of teaching usually splits a class up into small groups in different parts of the classroom, each group pursuing separate activities using appropriate equipment. This is much easier to organise if the number of groups and the size of each group are not too large and 5 groups with 7 children in each group is about the largest number that can be handled efficiently by the teacher, i.e. a class size of not more than 35. It is therefore recommended that for schools adopting this approach the class size should be 35.

4.26

While this technique of 'learning by doing' is usually associated with one teacher in charge of the class for all lessons and with no rigid division into periods, it is recommended that in view of the difficulties inherent in learning English and Chinese, specialist teachers should be used for these subjects and specific periods allocated to them. There are distinct advantages in having one teacher for all the other subjects, except Physical Education, as it enables an integrated approach which puts education more in perspective.

4.27

The Government believes that it is principally in the lower primary classes that the full 'learning by doing' approach should be adopted. While it is practicable in the upper classes, it does not appear to be quite so essential there, as the children are more able to benefit by rather less informal methods. However, the principle of gaining the active participation of children in any lesson should not be forgotten at any level. Those schools which have encouraged the active participation of children by adopting the 'learning by doing' approach will find the reduced class size at the upper level valuable in pursuing this principle.

4.28

Because the 'learning by doing' approach is to be concentrated in the lower classes it is important that the teachers involved should be eligible for consideration for promotion to Senior Teacher posts, which are usually reserved for teachers of upper primary classes.

4.29

In view of the new approaches to teaching advocated in this paper it is essential to ensure that teachers have sufficient support in the form of schemes of work, teaching aids, suggested activities. and discussion sessions as well as the formal training mentioned earlier. It is therefore proposed that the Advisory Inspectorate should be strengthened for this purpose (see Chapter 11).

Support for the primary curriculum

4.30

teaching materials

The curriculum also needs support by the provision of physical resources such as textbooks, library books, audio-visual aids, and appropriate school furniture, and these are considered in the following paragraphs.

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